


The Broken Pieces

by SunlightOnTheWater



Series: The Good Son [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angelic Grace, Fallen Angels, Fallen Michael, Gen, Lucifer's Cage, Michael as Sam | Sam as Michael
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-13
Updated: 2014-05-02
Packaged: 2018-01-15 11:52:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1303906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunlightOnTheWater/pseuds/SunlightOnTheWater
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the end all it took was the opening of Lucifer's Cage but fixing what was broken would take much longer than that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sam

**Author's Note:**

> So this first chapter turned out really angsty but it will get better, I promise!

_"I'll be a story in your head, but that's okay, because we're all stories in the end. Just make it a good one,eh? Because it was, you know. The best."-The Eleventh Doctor_

In the end all it took was Lucifer's Cage breaking open for him to remember. All those memories came flooding back as his little brother escaped the prison made specially for him and the being that was no longer Sam felt it break him. He'd been the good son for so long, followed orders even after he'd broken one and wrapped his own grace around the outside of the cage, torn it out to protect one of the little brothers he loved. He'd been a soldier so many times, the wars flashing against the backs of his eyelids even as they escaped Lucifer's presence. He lost track of reality for a time, allowing himself to be swamped by guilt over the fact that in this incarnation he had brought about the end of the world. When he picked it back up again Castiel was dead and Zachariah was sneering that Dean was Michael's vessel. Was _his vessel_ technically. Then he added the tidbit that the being who had once been Sam was supposed to be Lucifer's. The irony was not lost on Michael.

They fight War, split apart, and Michael just follows orders because, aside from being Sam, that was all he really knew how to do. There was an incident with a couple hunters and demon blood but Michael pulled out information that terrified them and they ran. He couldn't help thinking that everyone should be running from him. That it would be safer that way. Dean called and wanted back together, Michael agreed hollowly, and somehow that led to him meeting the antichrist. Well an antichrist. _The Antichrist_ was another entity entirely but none of the angels they had run into seemed to know that. Jesse had known what Sam really was instantly and right before he left Michael was washed over by a wave of sympathy. Then there came Gabriel.

The younger archangel started a game, took one look at Sam's hopeless face, realized he was really Michael, and had left, shattering the illusion. Dean complained about not knowing what was going on but Michael was just hit by another wave of failure. Then there were witches and wraiths and ghosts and what would soon be a failed attempt on Lucifer. Michael knew the Colt would not work on his younger brother. The gun had never been intended to be used on angels and, therefore, was useless. He did not protest the mission though because he was a soldier and being ordered into suicide was nothing less than he deserved after all of this.

Lucifer managed to derail their plans entirely, as Michael had known he would. Little brother may have been on a destructive rampage but that did not mean he wasn't perfectly capable of being clever at the same time. Then he had looked at what was supposed to be Sam Winchester, really look, and his expression turned confused. "Michael?" he questioned and it felt as if the world suddenly stood still. All eyes turned to him, as if by uttering that one name Lucifer had called the world to a close.

"Yeah," he said with a rueful smile. "It's me."

"But how?" Lucifer asked, puzzled. "I don't understand."

"Lucifer, you're my brother and I love you," Michael told him. "Despite everything you've done, everything you continue to do. When Father created the Cage it would not have prevented your own twisted creations from entering to take out the rage of their confinement on you so I took my own grace and wrapped it around the very structure of your prison. I left you my protect and fell. I have been human ever since." Lucifer looked stunned, as if he couldn't fathom someone loving him that much. Loving him despite the fact that he had betrayed everything Michael had ever stood for. 

"You went against father for me?" Lucifer's voice was soft and uncertain, as if his view of the world had suddenly been turned on its head. "Fell for me?" Michael nodded, tired down to his bones as his met his brother's ageless gaze. He watched, silently, as Lucifer visibly deflated. "All I ever wanted," his little brother whispered. "Was for one of my brothers to love me more than my father, love me enough that it wouldn't matter that daddy had made a new favorite toy." That was followed by a little hopeless laugh. "And all that time what I wanted was right there in front of me, smacking me in the face. How did I miss it?" Lucifer turned hurting, helpless eyes toward Michael; the kind of look he'd never hesitated in trying to erase.

"You were hurt," he said gently. "You loved our father more than anything else in all of creation and you felt that he had turned his back on you. You couldn't even see yourself clearly." Lucifer let out something that was half laugh, half sob and stumbled an uncertain step closer to Michael. He looked hesitantly over, as if expected to see rejection, and Michael opened his arms. He was unsurprised to find himself with an armful of sobbing Lucifer while Dean and Jo and Ellen and a newly rejoining them Castiel stared as if Gabriel had just popped in to inform them they were really coma patients and had been dreaming this whole time and it had just been one huge, stupid game. Michael felt that he should have been crying too but his own guilt weighed much to heavy to do anything but settle like lead in his stomach.

Lucifer's sobs hitched wetly against his shoulder as his little brother clung like he hadn't since he was a fledgling. For a moment, Michael wished for his wings back, as if a pair of wings would really solve all this. It took a long time but finally Lucifer cried himself out and just clung, breathing in soft little gasps at his ear. "Your grace?" he asked finally, as if he thought he knew the answer but wasn't sure enough of himself to assume.

"In the Cage still," Michael replied softly.

"I can get it back for you."

"Leave it," Michael told his hopeful eyed little brother, feeling sickened by the idea. "I don't deserve it back. Not after everything that's happened." Not after he'd almost ended the world because he couldn't follow orders like the soldier he was supposed to be. Lucifer blinked as if the idea that Michael wouldn't want his grace back had never occurred to him. The failure of a good son had never wanted so badly to simply walk away. Instead he stayed because if he left Lucifer would get the wrong idea. Lucifer would think Michael had given up on him. They stood there in awkward silence for several long moments.

"I can stop all this," Lucifer said at last. "On my end at least. But I can't stop Heaven."

"I'll need the Horsemen's rings," Michael replied, giving in. Lucifer nodded once.

"I'll bring the remaining ones to you." Then he was gone with a flutter of wings, leaving Michael feeling tired and hopeless and stupid.

"So Michael, huh?" Dean asked at last, as if he wasn't sure what to say. Michael just turned flat, exhausted eyes toward the man who at one point in time had actually thought of him as a brother instead of a burden. Jo and Ellen looked dazed, as if this weren't the way they had expected it to go down. Castiel looked deeply disappointed, like a child who had just been told Santa Clause wasn't real. Michael just wanted to turn away from them all and walk until the soles of his boots wore away to nothing and his feet bled.

Bobby took the big reveal remarkably well, if cursing up a storm could be considered well. Michael just sat mutely through it all, out of words. It was as if he'd used the ones he'd had left talking to Lucifer. Dean spilled what he'd gotten of the story from Michael and Lucifer's discussion, Jo and Ellen helpfully filling in everything he forgot. Michael just listened and allowed everything he was to be relegated to a few clipped sentences. That was all he was worth now anyway. By sunset Lucifer returned with the remaining rings. Michael took them and allowed his little brother to bring him to the opening of the Cage.

It was a simply matter for him to reach down and ever so slowly pull his grace into him. It took hours as, bit by bit, he unraveled his protection around the prison and swallowed it down until he was whole again. Instantly the voices of Heaven washed over him, questions and demands and lost cries for guidance. Guilt overwhelmed him again for a moment until he shook it off. He didn't deserve to feel guilt. Furthermore he didn't have time for guilt. He had a job to do. Offering his hand to his little brother, Michael spread his wings and for the first time since Lucifer had been sentenced to the Cage he returned to Heaven.


	2. Dean

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another angsty chapter but it will eventually get happier, I promise!

_"I'm sure God has his tricks, but getting out of places no one else can, that's one of mine."-Riddick, Chronicles of Riddick_

Dean felt like he had been left reeling, hanging over the edge of the cliff with nothing to hold on to. Seven days ago his little brother, who was apparently Michael the archangel, had returned to Heaven with a repentant Lucifer and the entirety of the Heavenly Host as if the entire apocalypse thing was nothing but a bad movie with a deus ex machina at the end to bring everything to a halt. Dean had stayed with Bobby at Sioux Falls after Sam had vanished. Ellen and Jo had returned to Nebraska where they were working on rebuilding the Roadhouse. Dean had lingered at the salvage yard for five days without seeing hide or hair of any angel before he'd grown restless. Then he'd found a case, a vengeful spirit, just a few miles away and he'd jumped on the chance to do something. That was how he'd ended up in a caved in basement trying to figure out how to get out.

"Damn you little brother," he muttered as he pressed his hand lightly against the walls of rock in the pitch blackness of the basement, hoping the spirit didn't come back to finish him off. "And damn Cas while I'm at it. Leaving me when I need you. Typical."

"I do not really appreciate that insinuation," a gravely voice grumbled and Dean startled, knocking his head on the top of the rocks that created the little bubble of air he was standing in.

"Damnit Cas," he swore, straining his eyes against the dark in an attempt to see the angel. "Where the hell have you been?"

"Do you wish to continue cursing and interrogating me or would you like to leave here?" Castiel asked, sounding not at all pleased.

"Get me out of here," Dean grumbled and then startled again when a hand grabbed his arm.

"You should have been killed by that spirit," Castiel told him when they stood safely next to the Impala. "It was a remnant from the Witnesses that did not fully rise before the spell to send them back was completed. Therefore it is stronger than any one besides that Witnesses that you have already faced."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Dean growled back. "Now how do I get rid of the damn thing?"

"It has already been eliminated," Castiel replied in a tone that people normally reserved for speaking to small children.

"Fine," Dean grumbled. "Where have you been? What's going on?"

"Michael has been organizing Heaven and determining which ones of us he can trust around humans," Castiel explained, seeming tired. That was a first from the angel. Castiel had always seemed to be Heaven's perfect solider, the Little Engine That Could, so seeing him show any signs of exhaustion was almost worrying. "He recalled every angel in creation that was not already in Heaven back and it was not the kind of command you could ignore. Some, like Zachariah and Uriel, have been demoted and others returned to their rightful positions. He requested of me that I return to keep an eye on you and answer any questions you had."

"So basically my little brother, who turns out to be Michael of all angels, decided I needed a supernatural babysitter," Dean drawled. "Great. Thanks a lot Sammy."

"I think he intended me to be a friend," Castiel rebuked gently. "And a liaison between Heaven and the hunting community. It has been hard to tell with Michael recently."

"What do you mean?"

"He has," Castiel hesitated, looking as if he were struggling to find the right words to describe Michael. "Changed since he returned to Heaven. Before he Fell, our commander was loyal and determined but driven by passion and love. Now someone could replace Michael with a souless copy, a creature with no emotions and no passion, and we would not be able to tell the difference." Dean frowned at that. Castiel's description sounded nothing like the Sam he had grown up with. Sam had always been passionate and eager and loving, willing to learn and always one to forgive his family of their faults. This version of Sam sounded more like the emotionless mask Dad had turned into over the years than his little brother.

"What's wrong with him?" Dean demanded.

"I do not know," came the reply. "But I can guess. During his time on Earth as a human Michael grew used to companionship. Friendship if you prefer that term. Now that he has returned to Heaven he has none. Balthazar, Anna, and Gabriel are protectors of humans and have, accordingly, been returned to Earth. Raphael has changed vastly since Michael left and can no longer be trusted. The same is true with Uriel and Zachariah. Joshua keeps to himself in the Garden and although Lucifer adores his older brother, the Morningstar is busy proving the Heaven that he has changed and can be trusted."

"But he has you, doesn't he?" Dean asked but Castiel was already shaking his head.

"I was always here for you first. Michael knows that and has made no attempt to create any bond of friendship between us. I believe he does not wish to accidentally take away any of the friends you have. Furthermore he seems to be overwhelmed by a sense of guilt in discovering the fact that his actions almost destroyed humanity. Many of the Host are worried because guilt is not an angelic emotion." That was depressing. The idea that Sam had no one in Heaven to speak to and nothing but self-loathing to comfort himself with was horrible.

"Why hasn't he come down to visit then?" Dean asked, feeling irritation rise up in him again. Sammy was far from stupid, his full ride to Stanford as just a human proved that, so the fact that he hadn't come to visit said that he was simply choosing to wallow in self pity.

"I believe that he does not feel welcome." And with those words Castiel broke down Dean's entire world. He could feel the truth in the angel's statement. He hadn't exactly been subtle in letting Sam know he was pissed and the archangel had probably already been devastated when he'd discovered that not only had he set Lucifer free but that he was supposed to be Heaven's Golden Boy. Instead of trying to help his brother, Dean had done his best to alienate Sam in a childish attempt to make him pay for what he'd done. No wonder Sam felt that, as Michael, he wasn't welcome. "I believe he would come if he were asked," Castiel said gently, as if trying to soften the blow.

"Yeah," Dean agreed tiredly. "Look Cas, it was great to see you but I'm sure you have other work to do and I need to get back to Bobby's." Castiel nodded at the obvious dismissal and vanished with a flutter of feathers.

The drive back to Bobby's was completely silent. Dean didn't feel like turning on one of his tapes after the conversation he'd just had and he was acutely aware of the lack of Sam in the passenger seat. The only remaining Winchester needed a drink. He parked haphazardly at Bobby's and half stumbled into the house, holding back tears. Bobby took one look at him and pulled out a beer, popping the top and handing it over. Dean slumped down in a chair and downed a gulp. "What's wrong boy?" the older hunter demanded and Dean let out a shuddering sigh.

"Cas came by during the hunt," he said at last. "Said that Sam, Michael really, has been fixing up Heaven and that he's keeping angels like Zachariah and Uriel away from humans."

"That's a good thing," Bobby said. "So what's the problem?"

"Cas says that Michael isn't himself. That he's turned into some kind of passionless, friendless robot," Dean said gruffly, fighting back tears earnestly now. "I asked why Sam hadn't come down here, seemed stupid of him really not to come visit. Stupid and selfish. And then Cas said that-" Dean cut himself off with a sob.

"That Sam doesn't feel like he can come back," Bobby finished. "I gotta admit boy, you should have seen that coming."

"I know, I know," Dean said tiredly. "I've been a jerk. A complete screw up." He swiped the back of his hand across his face to wipe away he tears. " I just- I don't know what to do Bobby. He probably hates me, and for good reason."

"Sam couldn't hate you," Bobby said with a roll of his eyes. "The kid practically worshiped the ground you walked on when you two were younger and I doubted all of that hero worship vanished when he got his grace back."

"But what if I've completely fucked up this time Bobby?" Dean asked. "What if this is the one thing he never forgives me for?"

"You won't know until you ask him, idjit," Bobby muttered, smacking Dean on the back of his head with his cap. "And while you're talking to him, let him know I want to see him some time, no matter how stupid he thinks he's been." With that having been said, the older hunter headed for his library, leaving Dean alone in the kitchen. Dean took a moment to compose himself and then left the beer bottle behind, heading outside to the back porch. He settled on the bottom step, tilting his head and glancing up at the sky, painted pale pink with the first light of dawn.

"Hey Michael," he said at last. "I don't know if you can hear me but I just wanted to say, oh fuck, I wanted to say I'm sorry. I was a jerk to you down here, made sure you didn't have anyone left really, and now you're paying for it. If you don't to see me again I'll understand but Bobby said to tell you to stop by and see him." Dean trailed off awkwardly, unsure what to say, and was unsurprised when there was no response. He'd really screwed up this time and he wasn't sure he could even hope Sam could forgive him.


	3. Lucifer

_"Some say our destiny is tied to the land, as much a part of us as we are of it. Others say fate is woven together like a cloth, so that one's destiny intertwines with many others. It's the one thing we search for, or fight to change. Some never find it. But there are some who are led."-Merida, Brave_

Long before he'd become the Devil, the monster lurking under the bed in every inch of Christianity, Lucifer had been the brightest angel in all of creation. Back then Raphael had been a healer with quiet delight in all of creation in his eyes, Gabriel's smiles had been genuine, and Michael had been full of wry, subtle humor. Now, after his violent plunge into the Cage which had led his older brother to rip his grace free to protect him, Heaven was different. Raphael was silent and angry and untrustworthy, Gabriel's smiles were cold and lost and helpless, and Michael was empty. The last fact was more worrying than all the others. Raphael would eventually get over his resentment and animosity and Gabriel was already beginning to smile with genuine hope but Michael wasn't changing. In fact, with each passing moment, he seemed to retreat even further into himself.

It was all Lucifer's fault. That wasn't vanity talking; it was truth. If Lucifer hadn't missed what was staring him in the face his entire life, Michael's unconditional love for him, then he never would have decided to openly defy their father. If Lucifer wouldn't have defied then he wouldn't have fallen and if he hadn't fallen then Michael would not have ripped out his grace to reinforce the Cage. And if Michael hadn't ripped out his grace then he never would have become human and lost everything. Anyone who had been close to Lucifer's older brother before was on Earth, keeping an eye on humans, or guarding the souls in Heaven. Lucifer tried to be Michael's friend but he was still little brother and he was busy with convincing the Host he wasn't about to destroy a planet in a jealous rage. It was a bitter truth to face.

That was how Lucifer found himself in the Garden, standing among the lush plants that hadn't grown on Earth since Eden. "You are troubled." Joshua's calm voice was a balm against Lucifer's flayed and strained grace, an offer of comfort. He sank down next to a fern sprouting brilliant violet flowers, breathing in a fragrance that was an odd mixture of honey and hickory smoke. The other angel, the only one besides Michael whom God spoke to anymore (other than the moment where He had forgiven Lucifer and allowed him to return home, sat down across from Lucifer. "Why?" he asked gently.

"I broke the one person who loved me," the archangel admitted softly. "It sounds selfish and vain when I say it that way but it is the truth. My own selfish actions cost Michael everything and I was too blind to see it."

"All of us have made mistakes," Joshua replied after a moment, his voice holding no judgement. "Some may seem greater than others and all have consequences but our mistake exist to teach us something. You and Michael have both made mistakes, some more recent than others, and have learned from them. Your mistake have nothing to do with Michael's depression."

"Then what is causing this?" Lucifer asked desperately. "We're healing up here, all of us but Michael. He's hurting and it's killing me." Joshua studied the archangel for a moment, considering him, before nodded, apparently satisfied with what he saw.

"Michael needs to forgive himself," Joshua told Lucifer softly. "Or he will never be able to move on from his mistake." Then the angel stood and was gone.

When Lucifer sought his older brother out later he found Michael sitting alone as far away from the Heavenly Host as he could get. Michael looked miserable and that made Lucifer's grace ache. He landed with a rustle and his big brother instantly schooled his expression into blankness. "Don't do that," Lucifer protested and Michael cast a glance at him from the corner of his eye.

"Do what?" his brother's voice was blank and emotionless and it _hurt_.

"Hide like that," the Morningstar said. "You shouldn't have to hide from everyone."

"Hide what?" Michael asked, barking out a harsh laugh. "That I'm a complete failure? That I almost ended the world because of my stupidity? Because I couldn't follow orders like I'm supposed to?"

"You need to forgive yourself," Lucifer pressed.

"Why?" Michael barked out with a tired shake of his head. "I don't deserve forgiveness and I never have." With that his brother's wings spread and he was fleeing before Lucifer could reply. The Morningstar bowed his head, unsure what else to do. Michael's wings, one a brilliant red-orange, were now beginning to tarnish. God's first child, his commander of Heaven, was beginning to fall.

Within one revolution of the sun Lucifer returned to the Garden, unsure what to do. Joshua did not return but Castiel was sitting with his head bowed beneath the branches of a massive oak. "Michael?" he questioned curiously.

"And Dean," Castiel agreed wryly, looking tired and careworn. God's most beautiful child settled next to the youngest angel in Heaven with a sigh. 

"They're impossible, aren't they?"

"They don't believe they deserve any goodness," Castiel said, his voice a soft sigh. Lucifer nodded pensively.

"Michael is beginning to fall," he admitted at last. "And if something does not change then within a month on Earth, Heaven will no longer have a commander." Castiel glanced down at the ground, worried, and Lucifer couldn't help but share the sentiment. "Perhaps if you spoke to him," he suggested.

"If you believe it will help," Castiel replied reluctantly.

"It's worth a try," Lucifer said and Castiel nodded, dipping his head respectfully before leaving the Garden. Lucifer had cost his brother everything, following a destiny he thought was clear cut and undeniable. He could only hope that he could return everything.


	4. Castiel

_"If the Witch knew the true meaning of sacrifice, she might have interpreted the deep magic differently. That when a willing victim who has committed no treachery, is killed in a traitor's stead, the stone table will crack, and even death itself would turn backwards."-Aslan, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe_

Before he approached Michael, Castiel thought it pertinent to speak to Dean. He returned to Earth, unquestioned because Michael had given him permission to travel between Heaven and Earth at will. He found Dean still at Bobby Singer's working on his precious vehicle. "Hey Cas," he greeted the angel the moment he noticed him.

"Hello Dean," he greeted. 

"How are you doing?" Dean asked, wiping his hands off on his jeans.

"I am well," Castiel replied. "And you?"

"As well as can be expected," Dean said with a shrug. "How's Sam?"

"You haven't spoken to him?" This worried Castiel almost more than Lucifer's confession that Michael was falling.

"I've prayed a couple times but he's never answered," Dean said tiredly.

"The situation continues to worsen," the angel worried.

"What do you mean?" Dean demanded.

"Michael is beginning to fall," Castiel admitted and Dean gaped.

"You've got to be kidding me," Dean scoffed. "Heaven's prefect son _falling_?"

"Lucifer informed me of this and no one knows better than he the path that leads to falling," Castiel countered and Dean's skeptical expression faded away. "Michael has lost his faith," Castiel continued. "As well as his hope."

" _Fuck_ ," Dean muttered, running a hand across his face. "Damnit Sammy."

"Lucifer requested that I attempt to speak to him," Castiel said when Dean finally looked at him again. "But I do not know where to begin. I came to ask advice from the person that knows him best."

"I don't know Michael," Dean replied. "Not really. But I know Sam. He's drowning himself and someone needs to tell him to stop being such an idiot. This whole thing isn't his fault. God supposed to have everything figured out right?" Castiel opened his mouth to reply but Dean barreled right over him. "So nothing Sam could do could screw up whatever your father had planned."

"That is true," Castiel admitted. "But I'm not sure Sam is thinking too rationally at this time."

"Tell him to come see me," Dean demanded, green eyes intense. "Please," he added after a moment and Castiel nodded. "I think I can fix this, I really do, but I can't if he won't let me."

"I promise I will try to convince him," Castiel responded and then left in a flutter of wings. Finding Michael was not difficult but catching him alone was harder. He tried for what was a week on Earth before he went in search of Lucifer, hoping that the older angel would have an idea of how to get Michael only before he fell for good. The Morningstar agreed to help, looking an odd mixture of pain and hope. Not much later he found Michael in the Garden alone.

"Castiel," the archangel greeted tiredly.

"Michael," Castiel replied respectfully. "I am here to pass on a message."

"What is it?"

"Dean wants you to come visit."

"Why?" Michael demanded bitterly. "So I can ruin his life again?"

"I do not believe you ever ruined his life," Castiel countered, which earned him a snort.

"As if you would know."

Castiel stiffened and resisted the urge to leave. "Dean pointed out something to me that, for a man as adamant that he does not believe in our father as he is, made a surprising amount of sense. He reminded me that we can do nothing that is outside of our father's plan."

" _Great_ ," Michael hissed. "So he planned for me to be a total fuck up. That's very reassuring."

"We cannot help you if you do not wish to be helped," Castiel said stiffly and turned to leave. He was startled into a stop by a broken laugh that slid jaggedly out of Michael's throat.

"Maybe I don't want to be helped?" the oldest archangel in creation said. Castiel didn't have a response to that. Michael smirked tiredly at him, with no real heat, and waved him off. Castiel retreated into a different part of the Garden. Memory overtook him.

He remembered sitting peering down at Earth when the Romans still had an empire with Anael and Balthazar and Uriel and Rachel and Hester and Inias. Anael and Balthazar had managed to drag Michael away from his responsibilities and Anael had even been able to draw a laugh out of Heaven's commander. Castiel had been so very young then and Michael had gleamed with power and hope. He was everything Heaven had ever stood for and sitting next to Rachel he'd felt small and awed. That was the Michael of old; solemn and powerful but with a hidden sense of humor and spirit. The Michael of now was nothing like that; lost and falling and unwilling to hope. It hurt and Castiel decided then not to give up. For Dean's sake if not for all of Heaven's.

His next few attempts to speak to Michael were rebuffed. The archangel seemed wary and unwilling to have anything to do with Castiel. Lucifer seemed to be similarly thwarted, although Heavenly politics were doing as much thwarting as Michael was. At last, after what felt like centuries, Castiel found the archangel alone. "You just don't give up, do you?" Michael asked, his voice exhausted. He was falling faster, the tarnish spreading further and further across his once glorious wings.

"I do not intend to," Castiel informed the oldest angel in all of Heaven and he managed to surprise a wry laugh out of him.

"Go on then, say your piece."

For a moment Castiel wasn't sure what to say. He hesitated, unnerved by the unwavering stare focused on him. "What if our father wanted to give Lucifer a second chance?" he blurted at last. Michael jolted as if he'd been slapped. "Heaven would have never have accepted him back were he not to return with someone whose word they trusted," Castiel continued, thinking aloud now. "Furthermore, they never would have allowed him to return had you not been the one to release him. Without your involvement Lucifer would have returned to Heaven an outcast." Michael tilted his head, as if he were considering, for the first time since this whole mess had began, that maybe he hadn't made a huge mistake. "Assume our Father knew what he was doing, if nothing else," Castiel said at last and turned to leave.

"Castiel," a voice called after him and he hesitated, turning back. "Thank you." Castiel nodded in response and left in a flutter of wings.


	5. Bobby

_"Whatever happens tomorrow you must promise me one thing. That you will stay who you are. Not a perfect solider, but a good man."-Abraham Erskine, Captain America: The First Avenger_

Bobby Singer was slightly startled by the heavy flutter of wings that caused the papers around him to shift and some to topple off the table. When he glanced up from his frantic grabbing he saw Sam Winchester, saw _Michael_ , standing in his home looking lost. "Why am I here?" the archangel questioned hopelessly, those brown eyes welling with guilt and silent hurt.

"Is that a philosophical question or are you asking why you're standing in my house?" Bobby replied after a moment, taken aback by the pure anguish he saw in Sam. The archangel struggled helplessly, looking as if he were seconds from bolting. "Dean let you know I wanted to talk to you?"

"Yes." Sam's pattern of speech was reminding Bobby of Castiel with his robotic, emotionless speech patterns but there was one main difference between the two. Castiel spoke that way because he didn't know any better but Sam did it to hide his emotional turmoil. "I am sorry," Michael apologized, and in this time it was Michael in entirety with everything that had once been Sam washed away. "I caused you and others much pain because of my foolish decisions and I do not think I can ever been sorry enough about it."

Bobby was momentarily stunned by how much Sam blamed himself for what had happened. He had known of the Winchester tendency for self blame and self hate, anyone who spent enough time around one of them would have to be blind to miss it, but he hadn't realized it would run this deep in Sam. In retrospect, looking at how the kid had reacted to others being hurt around him and the way he'd behaved during the false apocalypse, he should have known better. "Now listen here you idjit," Bobby grumbled, meeting Michael's startled eyes. "This whole mess wasn't your fault. You've been pushed around since you were born and you still managed to throw Heaven's selfish plan in their faces."

"Not in time," Michael replied. "I killed thousands."

"No," Bobby rebuked. "You didn't kill any of them."

"Maybe not directly," Michael admitted. "But my foolishness, my pride in thinking I could fix anything, led to the beginning to the apocalypse and, ultimately, the deaths of thousands."

"Damnit boy, _listen to me_ ," Bobby growled. "You. Didn't. Know. Get that through your thick skull right now before you do something stupid, like falling." Michael looked momentarily confused and then realization swept across his features.

"Castiel has been speaking to you."

"He's been checking in on Dean," Bobby corrected. "Your brother's been passing on the news to me."

"He is not my brother," Sam replied but his tone was broken.

"Did you ask him about that?"

"I didn't have to." The ceiling creaked above them and both glanced up. The sudden smell of ozone rushed into the room and by the set of his shoulders, Bobby guessed that Michael's wings were bristling. "Thank you for your time," Michael said softly and then vanished with a flutter of wings.

"Damnit," Bobby grumbled as Dean came scrambling down the stairs.

"Was that-" Dean started to ask and then stopped, looking both hopeful and crushed.

"Yes," Bobby grumbled. "Didn't stick around very long though."

"How is he?"

"Blaming himself for everything," Bobby replied. "Other than that I'm not sure. An angel would be able to tell you better than me." Dean looked downcast at that and Bobby wished he had better news to tell the only remaining Winchester. Dean trudged out of the room and Bobby turned his head toward the ceiling. "Michael you idjit," he muttered and then turned back to his books, knowing he had to come up with the right information for Garth before the man got himself killed.

It was four hours later when he finally had a proper amount of time for prayer. It had been a long time since he'd bothered to pray, since before Karen died, so at first he wasn't sure what to say. "Michael who art in Heaven," he began awkwardly and then huffed in irritation. "Forget that. Michael you idjit, you better be listening up there. You need to stop beating yourself up about all that crap. You have a brother down here that doesn't blame you and that misses you and if you don't get your feathery ass down here soon Cas has informed us you'll be joining the human race again. So get your head out of your ass and get down here, you here me?" With that being said Bobby stomped off into his kitchen, ready to move on with his day. Then, suddenly thinking of something, he added, "Be it Michael or Sam you're a good man. And you always have been."


	6. Gabriel

_"You fail to recognize that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be!"-Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire_

"Hey Mikey!" Gabriel landed next to his older brother in a flutter of feathers, watching Michael's shoulders rise above his ears. Ever since he had returned to Heaven and set everything in order, Michael had done his level best to avoid everyone. If he wasn't entirely successful that was only because he he refused to neglect his duties. Discovering during his free time had become so difficult that Gabriel had enlisted Lucifer's help to find him. "Don't fly away," Gabriel continued brightly. "I haven't seen you in so long."

"What do you want?" Michael sounded resigned, as if his entire life had just become a string of monotonous chores and heavy disappointments.

"What happened to you?" Gabriel asked seriously, sinking down next to his brother. "You never used to be like this."

"You mean I used to be the perfect soldier," Michael replied with a snort. "This? This is what happens when I gained free will. It ruined me."

"You're ruining yourself bro," Gabriel retorted. "Sure, you made a few mistakes but you were human and you didn't know any better."

"I should have."

"Would've, could've, should've. If you waste time thinking about that eternity will have passed by before you actually decide to live."

"It was me living that got us into this mess in the first place."

"What mess?" Michael glanced at him sidelong as if he were being particularly dense. Gabriel arched his eyebrows at his older brother. "Seriously. The way I see it, if you hadn't done what you did we would've had a whole 'nother mess to worry about. Heaven would have been bringing about the end times, Lucifer would've been a twisted monster, and there would be no one to stop it. Face it Michael, this whole thing played out exactly the way Dad wanted. You'd just rather drown in self-pity than admit it."

"Gabriel-"

"Don't try to argue with me about it. You know that's exactly what you're doing. Even if you didn't at first everyone has told you. Why won't you listen?"

"Maybe because you all are missing the obvious," Michael replied. "I almost ended the world."

"The key word being almost," Gabriel pointed out. "You ended up saving it instead, and if you hadn't released Lucifer then he would have never had a chance to repent and rejoin us. Then, in the end, you would have been forced to kill him. Would that have really been any better than what happened?"

"No," Michael admitted and Gabriel watched some of the tension fade away from his shoulders. "When did you change so much little brother?"

"I grew up," Gabriel replied with a shrug. "Actually, I think we all did."

"I think you're right," Michael agreed with a laugh that was lighter than Gabriel had ever hoped for.

"You're a stubborn bastard, you know?" Gabriel informed him and was startled when he got a smirk in return.

"Yeah. I know."

"Good," Gabriel replied with a nod of his head. "Now I think you have another brother on Earth who you need to have a talk with. And I need to find Luci and thank him on the advice he gave on finding you."

"It would be you two conspiring," Michael said with a shake of his head before vanishing in a fluttering of wings, leaving a grinning Gabriel behind.


	7. Michael

_"Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten."-Lilo, Lilo and Stitch_

He landed in Bobby's salvage yard, silence washing over him. A bird trilled from the nearby woods. It was a happy, curious sound and Michael couldn't help but smile at it. His heart pounded in his chest, a nervous and excited drumbeat in his ears. There was another heartbeat in the house, steady and solid, and one outside. One that Michael knew the rhythm almost better than he knew his own. He made his way through the winding and twisted piles of cars, some so off balance that he marveled over their tenacious hold above the path. He wasn't worried about one of them falling and injuring him. There were perks to being an archangel. Sam snorted at that thought and wondered when his inner voice had decided to sound like Gabriel.

He rounded a corner and paused, watching Dean baby the Impala. Sometimes, when he had still been human, he wondered if Dean had loved anything as much as he loved that car. Even under angelic sight it glowed with the markings of Dean's soul as only something that has been dearly loved did. Dean turned to look for something and then froze when he caught sight of Michael. "Sammy?"

"Hey Dean," he said tiredly, heart in his throat. Dean smiled awkwardly, as if not quite sure what to do, and Michael contemplated leaving. Then he remembered that Gabriel and Lucifer were apparently teamed up just like old times and decided he didn't want to see what would happen if he left now.

"I wasn't sure you were ever going to show up," Dean said at last. "Everybody kept saying it was bad." Michael nodded hesitantly. "I prayed for you."

"I heard," Michael admitted. "But I wasn't ready."

"So what changed?" Dean demanded.

"Remember that trickster?" Michael questioned. "The one that killed you over a hundred times?"

"Yeah," Dean replied warily.

"That's Gabriel."

" _Gabriel?_ " Dean questioned skeptically.

"Yeah," Michael agreed somewhat ruefully. "He ran away from home. He never did like conflict."

"Okay," Dean said warily. "What does that have to do with you coming down here?"

"He and Lucifer are conspiring again," Michael answered. "And, just for the record, Castiel is a remarkably persistent little Seraph."

"You didn't already know that?"

"It wasn't me that he wanted anything to do with." Dean's body language turned awkward again and Michael smiled sadly. "Listen, I'm sorry Dean. It shouldn't have gone this way."

"I'm sorry too," Dean replied. "I was a real jerk to you when I came back from Hell."

"It's okay," Michael replied with a half shrug.

"So we're good then?" Dean asked.

"Yeah," Michael answered with a half smile. "We're good." There was another long pause but this time the silence wasn't nearly as awkward as it had been.

"So Michael, huh?"

"Apparently."

"What's that like?" Michael shot a sardonic look at Dean. "No, seriously."

"Work," Michael said dryly. "And occasionally chaos although that mostly has to do with Gabriel and Lucifer. Gabriel got the trickster thing honestly."

"What do you mean?"

"Have you ever seen a Platypus?" Michael shot back. Dean snorted.

"Fair enough."

"Dad likes his little jokes," Michael continued. "I'm just trying to find the punchline hidden in this one."

"Maybe it isn't a joke," Dean said, shrugging, and Michael snorted with suppressed laughter.

"Come on, the golden boy Falls, rebels for the rebellious younger brother, and then becomes the rebellious younger brother. Then, to make things even better, he has demon blood and actually releases the original rebellious younger sibling. There is a punchline somewhere."

"The fact that you were probably meant to be Lucifer's vessel?" Dean suggested and Michael gave into the urge to laugh.

"This whole things is just absurd," he managed to choke out and Dean grinned.

"Yeah. Yeah it is." It took a moment for them to stop laughing and by then they were just grinning like idiots at each other. "So you're going to come around, right?" Dean asked.

"Definitely," Michael agreed with a wide grin. "Honestly? I'm just a prayer away. Unless Gabriel and Lucifer do something stupid. Then it might take a bit."

"Are you boys going to just stand out there like idjits?" Bobby called as thunder rumbled nearby, the sky a mess of dark purple clouds. "Or are you gonna come in before it rains on you both?"

"Well?" Dean asked with a grin and Michael turned to look over his shoulder. 

"We're coming!" They made it inside just before the rain tumbled down and if there was a little angelic assistance helping them get inside in time? Well that was just between them and God.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there will probably be a couple timestamps to this story (there are a couple ideas I kind of want to explore) so if you have anything you're curious about or might want to see let me know and it just might show up! Hopefully you enjoyed this and thanks for reading!


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